ASUS Sabertooth Z77 LGA 1155 Motherboard Review @ [H]

FrgMstr

FrgMstr

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ASUS Sabertooth Z77 LGA 1155 Motherboard Review - ASUS brings us another gem in the form of the Sabertooth Z77. It is one of the first in a new generation of Z77 Express chipset based motherboards which many will no doubt consider when Intel’s next generation Ivy Bridge processors drop soon. The beauty of it is, being LGA 1155, Sandy Bridge will work just fine, if not downright well.
 
Thanks for the review. Thermal Radar looks awesome, and I was considering buying the Sabertooth, but I don't want to toss out my PCI soundcard just yet so I will be going P8Z77-V Pro this time around, any chance you will be reviewing that board Kyle?

Also, even though reviews seem to say the thermal armor fans as quiet, I just cannot fathom using a tiny 5000rpm fan in my desktop computer anymore :).
 
Man, I remember when tons of decent mobos could be had for less than $100. WTF happened?
 
Cruiza said:
Man, I remember when tons of decent mobos could be had for less than $100. WTF happened?
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The economy, increased chipset costs, additional hardware on the board, etc. Gas used to also be under $1 a gallon, doesn't mean much these days.
 
Any plans to compare Z77-native USB3 against the 3rd-party chips that were kludged into the _67 boards? This is pretty much my biggest sell in going to Z77/H77, a lot of incompatibilities with some of my peripherals in my existing workstation.
 
Just got my Z77 Sabertooth delivered to me yesterday. Great to see a [H] review of it. Zero regrets! :D
 
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Pieter3dnow said:
from subsystem testing page (yellow text)


shouldn't that be 26000K ? (know nothing about Intel tho ) :) .
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Nope, subsystem testing was done with a Intel 2500K processor. Benchmark testing was done with a 2600K.
 
mavalpha said:
Any plans to compare Z77-native USB3 against the 3rd-party chips that were kludged into the _67 boards? This is pretty much my biggest sell in going to Z77/H77, a lot of incompatibilities with some of my peripherals in my existing workstation.
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I don't see us doing that. But maybe if we have some time later.
 
grambo said:
Thanks for the review. Thermal Radar looks awesome, and I was considering buying the Sabertooth, but I don't want to toss out my PCI soundcard just yet so I will be going P8Z77-V Pro this time around, any chance you will be reviewing that board Kyle?

Also, even though reviews seem to say the thermal armor fans as quiet, I just cannot fathom using a tiny 5000rpm fan in my desktop computer anymore :).
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Sitting on my desk right now.

5KRPM? Not even close...
 
It is important to note that the Thermal Armor fans are fully controllable via our UEFI or AiSuite II so you can adjust speed and ramping.
 
ASUS says they are working on a new BIOS that will be out in a couple weeks. I think this board will definitely mature over time with updates.
 
Nice board and great review.
This may end up in my next system. As Kyle mentioned, I like the protection the armor gives against fumble-finger actions.
Minor editing note:
The legend for the 100 MB file tests on the subsystem page list X79 instead of Z77
 
BatJoe said:
ASUS says they are working on a new BIOS that will be out in a couple weeks. I think this board will definitely mature over time with updates.
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I'm on 0906. You having any problems with yours?
 
Absolutely love my Sabertooth 990FX. I think Asus has knocked it out of the park with these boards. Simply bulletproof build, more options that I can shake my dick at and overclocks like a beast but they dont cost an arm and a leg. They aint cheap but theyre very reasonable (got mine for $179). Looks pretty cool too. Glad to see theyre keeping it going with Z77. No matter what platform I use from now on, Ill be using Sabertooth boards as long as theyre making them.
 
Is there any chance that you can take this motherboard and do some testing to see if the T-Toplogy really enhances the ability of the memory to be clocked 15% faster than competitors? For example if you have some exotic memory laying around rated for 2400 MHZ can you try and run this in the Sabertooth and in a competitor's Z77 board and then increase the speed on each one until neither can go any higher. I think a lot of us want to know if there is any value in this claim.

Thanks!
 
Sprung said:
Is there any chance that you can take this motherboard and do some testing to see if the T-Toplogy really enhances the ability of the memory to be clocked 15% faster than competitors? For example if you have some exotic memory laying around rated for 2400 MHZ can you try and run this in the Sabertooth and in a competitor's Z77 board and then increase the speed on each one until neither can go any higher. I think a lot of us want to know if there is any value in this claim.

Thanks!
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by Raja@ASUS: Just to clear up confusion; T-branch won't do anything clock for clock, but will extend OC margin with all slots populated.

The decision to implement T-Branch was made because most people are now running 4 DIMMs (prices are very reasonable). It provides a little more system overhead, by reducing slot to slot skew. Any skew has to be countered in the IMC read/write schedule and eventually eats into margin. So yes for 4 DIMMs only, and also yes that its for the guys that like to push. The reason Intel was said to be impressed is because ASUS had to model the transmission line impedances and layout themselves - something most vendors won't and do not do. Most boards use the Intel generic layout and transmission line impedances so there is some truth behind the part that Intel were glad we pushed the envelope of their design.

one thing I should add that may be of benefit to those pushing 4 DIMMs, you should find that T-Branch may allow lower operating voltages for the memory bus (VDD) against conventional topologies. Any variance in skew between DQ and DQS lines due to daisy chaining of the single ended DQ lines, will have to be countered by fiddling with VDD to maintain a slew rate that keeps the DQ signal well centred with the DQS.
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Do you have any installed pics? I'd like to see how the fans sit on the thermal armor, both inside the case and on the I/O shield. I'm mainly worried that I wouldn't be able to install my sound card in the first PCIe 1x slot with the fan installed.

Everything looks awesome though from what I've seen of the review, I can't wait to get my IB build started.
 
I love my P67 sabertooth. The look is just really clean in my opinion. I was hoping they would continue to include the shroud on this line. While I don't need an upgrade right now, when I do my next build, I will definitely use it, along with the raven type cases.
 
Does it have any cold boot or sleep mode issues while overclocking? My P67 Sabertooth is still plagued with these issues.
 
Nothing was mentioned in the review, and it was tortured pretty well.
 
where you using the same 2500K chip with all the previous reviews?
[H] review results:

ASUS Sabertooth Z77 4.9
ASUS Maximus IV Extreme 5.1
ASUS P8Z68-V 5.0
MSI Z68A-GD65 G3 5.0
ASUS Maximus IV GENE-Z 4.93
Gigabyte Z68X-UD3H-B3 4.9
ASRock Z68 Extreme4 Gen3 4.8
ASRock Z68 Pro3 4.8
ASUS Maximus IV GENE-Z 4.75
GIGABYTE G1.Sniper2 4.6

maybe the P8Z68-V had better OC because of the 16 power phases? (14 only on the Sabertooth Z77)
btw, the Z68 V and V-PRO had 16, the P8Z77-V have 12 and the V-PRO 16 (20 on the DELUXE)
 
firas said:
where you using the same 2500K chip with all the previous reviews?
[H] review results:

ASUS Sabertooth Z77 4.9
ASUS Maximus IV Extreme 5.1
ASUS P8Z68-V 5.0
MSI Z68A-GD65 G3 5.0
ASUS Maximus IV GENE-Z 4.93
Gigabyte Z68X-UD3H-B3 4.9
ASRock Z68 Extreme4 Gen3 4.8
ASRock Z68 Pro3 4.8
ASUS Maximus IV GENE-Z 4.75
GIGABYTE G1.Sniper2 4.6

maybe the P8Z68-V had better OC because of the 16 power phases? (14 only on the Sabertooth Z77)
btw, the Z68 V and V-PRO had 16, the P8Z77-V have 12 and the V-PRO 16 (20 on the DELUXE)
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Number of phases can be completely irrelevant.
 
Your work is much appreciated - as a recent SB cpu and mobo buyer it's nice to see these comparisons, especially when 'rumors are pretty much spot on' . I love my little Maximus and 2700k, with the h100 this chip does 5ghz on it's head, your experience may differ:eek::eek: Have to agree with yawl, I'm not a big 'fan':rolleyes::rolleyes: of the ARMOR thing but then I'm getting old and cranky:confused::(:eek:;) Yes it does look clean...and I do like the 2011 version..
So, new chipset? z68 with native USB, great if you in the market for a newy...thnx guys!!!

BTw, do you have any plans to test a 5400rpm....ahhh, fogetit!!!;););):p
 
Reminds me of the old Abit i875 based board, the IC7g MAX3 with Abit's OTES, Outside Thermal Exhaust System

IC7-MAX3.jpg


Though I am thinking about the Z77 Deluxe board to replace my P55 Deluxe, and whatever the top of the line i7 is.
 
Are you guys going to investigate the LUCIDLOGIX VIRTU MVP feature on gameplay and stuff in the future?
 
I think you have a typo on the subsystem testing page under the 100MB transfers. Your graphs indicate your were testing an X79 instead of a Z77. I can't tell if you put the wrong graphs up or if they are just mislabeled.
 
brownkc said:
I think you have a typo on the subsystem testing page under the 100MB transfers. Your graphs indicate your were testing an X79 instead of a Z77. I can't tell if you put the wrong graphs up or if they are just mislabeled.
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Mislabeled. None of the USB 3.0 ports have been tested with UASP on any X79 board at this point.
 
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